Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was something to watch at nine o'clock at night for three days running. A thing unheard of as of late! Monday saw The Children, Wednesday Lost in Austen, and sandwiched between them on Tuesday was Mutual Friends.
The last of these follows a group of “friends” dealing with the death of one of their own, and the revelations that come with it. Lawyer Martin Grantham (Marc Warren), learns that his wife Jen has had an affair with the now deceased Carl, putting a strain between them and Carl's poor widow Leigh. As for Leigh, she finds herself the object of infatuation from married family friend Dev, and also finds herself penniless from Carl’s squandering of money.
Meanwhile, Martin’s licentious friend Patrick Turner is sacked from his job as a photographer with a modeling business, and turns to Martin for legal help. Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is also dating Patrick’s ex-boss. Oh dear.
Martin faces trouble at work as he is not bringing in business, business that is not pro bono. He is also up against a younger, hot-shot lawyer keen to knock Martin from his pedestal.
Previews of the episode give the impression that all the characters were going to begin playing tricks on each other in an almost cartoonish way, yet this is not the case. There are some subtle and not so subtle expressions of anger, disgust, and revenge; but when it really matters, the vast majority are there for each other and doing the right thing, most of the time.
While Mutual Friends is nothing new, and many of the directions taken in the story can be seen coming a mile off, it is still enough to keep a viewer watching. The characters are not the unpleasant, conniving people they were made out to be, although they are undoubtedly flawed; but who wants to watch a bunch of people behaving like saints?
Article comments